Profile
(last updated in 2017)
Education: Multi-lingual, multi-national, pluri-disciplinary university studies in France (in French), Germany (in German, English and French) & the Netherlands (in English) leading to 5 degrees ▪ PhD in International Relations, Department of Development Studies (#13 QS World University Rankings by Subject), SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies), U of London, thesis entitled A Critical Geopolitics of Iran’s International Relations in a Changing World Order ▪ a version of it to be published as Iran in an Emerging New World Order: From Ahmadinejad to Rouhani, New York: Palgrave Macmillan (Studies in Iranian Politics) ▪ Post-Doc Associate, The Iran Project, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
Honorary Positions: Affiliated Researcher, Center for Middle Eastern and North African Politics, Freie Universität (FU) Berlin ▪ Research Associate (collaborateur scientifique), Centre of International Cooperation and Development Studies (CECID), Faculty of Social and Political Science, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) ▪ Senior Research Fellow, WeltTrends-Institut für Internationale Politik (IIP), Potsdam ▪ Research Fellow (wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter), German Orient Institute (Deutsches Orient-Institut, DOI).
Teaching: universities Freie Universität Berlin, U of Westminster, SOAS, Universität Duisburg–Essen ▪ seosonal schools U of Marburg’s Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies (CNMS) & International Iranian Economics Association (IIEA), International Association for Political Science Students (IAPSS), Bucerius Summer School on Global Governance, U of Torino, etc.
Academic Activities: academic conferences >40 papers presented ▪ academic advisory board WeltTrends: Das außenpolitische Journal | multipolar: Zeitschrift für kritische Sicherheitsforschung ▪ peer-reviewer International Journal: Canada’s Journal of Global Policy Analysis (Canadian International Council & Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History), SAGE | Strategic Analysis (New Delhi: Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses), Taylor & Francis | inamo: Berichte und Analysen zu Politik und Gesellschaft des Nahen und Mittleren Ostens (Berlin: Informationsprojekt Naher und Mittlerer Osten [inamo]) | Democracy and Security, Routledge | International Relations and Diplomacy, a peer-reviewed monthly journal published in New York ▪ board of trustees, Cologne Forum for International Relations and Security Policy (KFIBS, Kölner Forum für Internationale Beziehungen und Sicherheitspolitik) ▪ paper evaluation committee International DAVO (German Middle East Studies Association for Contemporary Research and Documentation) Congresses 2016 & 2018.
Research Areas: International relations (contemporary & theory) ▪ globalization & development studies (globally & Middle East) ▪ intersection of socio-econimic development and stability (focus on the Middle East) ▪ international Iran conflict & the role of great-powers (focus on geopolitics, great-power behaviour, the geo-economics of the sanctions regime, diplomacy, decision-making processes & power structures) ▪ continuity & change in the 21st-century world order ▪ Iran: foreign policy, triad of crises (socio-econonomic, political & environmental), state–society relations (authoritarianism, civil-society activism) ▪ Arab revolutionary process (Arab Spring, socio-economic roots & geopolitical impacts) ▪ foreign policies of Western and non-Western great-powers vis-à-vis the Middle East.
Publications:two acclaimed monographs on the U.S.–Iran conflict: Iran in the Eye of Storm (2005–07) & The Iran Conflict and the Obama Administration [in German] (Potsdam University Press, 2010 & 2011) ▪ over 150 in English, German & French, being further translated into Spanish, Arabic, French, Persian, Turkish, Italian, Czech & Japanese ▪ in outlets across the globe The Guardian (UK), Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Germany), Internationale Politik (IP) (Germany’s leading foreign affairs journal), Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), openDemocracy (UK), World Policy Journal (New York), Huffington Post (France, Quebec & Germany editions), Jadaliyya (Washington, DC & Beirut: Arab Studies Institute), Insight Turkey, Iranian Diplomacy (Iran), Informed Comment (U.S.), Blätter für deutsche und international Politik (Germany), Qantara.de (Germany), Development and Cooperation (D+C) (German Society for International Cooperation), Géostratégiques (Paris Academy of Geopolitics), Die Friedens-Warte: Journal of International Peace and Organization, Wissenschaft & Frieden (the leading German peace research journal), Mediapart (France), Palestine–Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture (Jerusalem), Fair Observer (U.S.), Europe’s World (Brussels), WeltTrends: Journal of International Politics (Germany), inamo & Zenith (Germany’s leading publications on Middle East affairs), Telepolis (Germany’s pioneering online politics magazine), Iran Review (an English-language Iranian international affairs website based in Tehran), etc. ▪ praised by Prof. Anoush Ehteshami (Durham University), Dr. Parag Khanna, Andreas Zumach (Geneva-based UN correspondent), Prof. Noam Chomsky (MIT), the late Rudolph Chimelli (Iran expert, Süddeutsche Zeitung – Germany’s largest daily)
Media Appearances: TV & radio Al Jazeera English »Inside Story«, BBC World Service, ZDF »heute-journal«, Deutsche Welle (TV & radio, English, Arabic & Persian services), CGTN »The Point«, CCTV English, RT (Russia Today) »CrossTalk«, SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation), Press TV, BBC Persian TV, Deutschlandradio (Germany’s national public radio), Radio Farda (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Persian service), ARTE Journal, Rádio Česko, Channel S, Schweizer Radio DRS, Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF), etc. ▪ print & online TIME (U.S.), The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Reuters, AFP, The Intercept, Majalla: The Leading Arab Magazine (London), Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, Handelsblatt (Germany’s leading business & finance daily), Der Tagesspiegel, Neue Zürcher Zeitung (Switzerland), La Stampa (Italy), L’Orient-Le Jour (Lebanon), Gulf News (Dubai), Bild.de (Germany, world’s best-selling non-Asian newspaper & 6th-largest circulation), Die Presse (Austria), Tehran Times, Shargh (Iranian reformist daily), Resalat (Iranian conservative daily), Middle East Eye (English & French editions), etc.
Lectures Delivered: u.s. Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center europe European Parliament, House of Commons, Federal Foreign Office (AA) of Germany, The College of Law (London), Vienna School of International Studies (Diplomatic Academy of Vienna), SOAS, Imperial College London, Université libre de Bruxelles, University of Economics in Prague, Humboldt University of Berlin, German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) Brussels, European Policy Centre (EPC), Aspen Institute Germany ▪ asia Seoul National University Asia Center, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies (DI), Texas A&M University at Qatar etc.
Grants: Iran Heritage Foundation, Franco−German University, Alfried Krupp Foundation.
Other Professional Experience: freelance political analyst with international risk consultancies, with an emphasis on Iran as well as Western foreign policies vis-à-vis the Middle East ▪ participation in invitation-only expert conferences, e.g. at the EUISS (European Union Institute for Security Studies) »Iran Working Group Meeting« (Paris, spring 2011); the IISS (International Institute for Strategic Studies) para-diplomatic conference on Iran and nuclear proliferation (Beirut, summer 2012); Chatham House (The Royal Institute of International Affairs; as of 2013 ranked as the #2 think-tank in the world & #1 non-U.S. think-tank by the University of Pennsylvania’s Global Go To Think Tanks Ranking) on »Iran and the Six: Nuclear Negotiations in 2013« (London, 02/2013 & Doha, 03/2016); the ECFR (European Council on Foreign Relations) on the EU and Iran policy (06/ 2014); the Iranian Foreign Ministry think-tank IPIS (Institute for Political & International Studies) as part of a FES (Friedrich Ebert Foundation, #12 non-U.S. think-tanks) delegation (Tehran,12/ 2014); the German Federal Foreign Office for the Academic Peace Orchestra Middle East organized by PRIF (Peace Research Institute Frankfurt) (Berlin, 03/2015); the DGAP (Berlin, 05/2015); by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) on KSA & Europe (09/2015); the Tiergarten Conference (09/2015); IISS meeting on Iran and nuclear deal on the sidelines of the 2015 Manama Dialogue; the Hans Seidel Foundation on Iran & the West (11/2015); the Dahrendorf Forum (EU–MENA strategic foresight & scenario planning) (12/2015 & 03/2016); NATO Defence College Foundation on Eurasia & armed radicalism (01/2016); Aspen Institute Germany on how to deal with autocratic leaders (04/2016); IISS “Geopolitics, Nuclear Issues and the Middle East” workshop at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (09/2016); the IISS 2016 Manama Dialogue (12/2016); 2nd UfM (Union for the Mediterranean) Regional Forum »Mediterranean in Action: Youth for Stability and Development« (01/2017); etc. ▪ (co-)organization of academic conferences at universities in London (LSE & SOAS) and Berlin (HU & FU) ▪ author of the 2011 crisis-game scenario for MA students in International Studies and Diplomacy at the Centre of International Studies and Diplomacy (CISD), SOAS, entitled »Crisis Amidst Revolution in the Middle East«.
Languages: fluent English ▪ French ▪ German ▪ Persian (Farsi) | passive knowledge Dutch ▪ Spanish.